Method and apparatus for rapidly determining whether a digitized image frame contains an object of interest

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an apparatus for rapidly analyzing frame(s) of digitized video data which may include objects of interest randomly distributed throughout the video data and wherein said objects are susceptible to detection, classification, and ultimately identification by filtering said video data for certain differentiable characteristics of said objects. The present invention may be practiced on pre-existing sequences of image data or may be integrated into an imaging device for real time, dynamic, object identification, classification, logging/counting, cataloging, retention (with links to stored bitmaps of said object), retrieval, and the like. The present invention readily lends itself to the problem of automatic and semi-automatic cataloging of vast numbers of objects such as traffic control signs and utility poles disposed in myriad settings. When used in conjunction with navigational or positional inputs, such as GPS, an output from the inventive system indicates the identity of each object, calculates object location, classifies each object by type, extracts legible text appearing on a surface of the object (if any), and stores a visual representation of the object in a form dictated by the end user/operator of the system. The output lends itself to examination and extraction of scene detail which cannot practically be successfully accomplished with just human viewers operating video equipment, although human intervention can still be used to help judge and confirm a variety of classifications of certain instances and for types of identified objects.

This is a Division of Application Ser. No. 09/177,836 filed Oct. 23,1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,442.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of automated imageidentification. In particular, identification of objects depicted in oneore more image frames of segment of video. The present invention teachesmethods for rapidly scrutinizing digitized image frames and classifyingand cataloging objects of interest depicted in the video segment byfiltering said image frames for various differentiable characteristicsof said objects and extracting relevant data about said objects whileignoring other features of each image frame.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior art devices described in the relevant patent literature forcapturing one or more objects in a scene typically include a cameradevice of known location or trajectory, a scene including one or morecalibrated target objects, and at least one object of interest (see U.S.Pat. No. 5,699,444 to Sythonics Incorporated). Most prior art devicesare used for capture of video data regarding an object operate in acontrolled setting, oftentimes in studios or sound stages, and arearticulated along a known or preselected path (circular or linear).Thus, the information recorded by the device can be more easilyinterpreted and displayed given the strong correlation between theperspective of the camera and the known objects in the scene.

To capture data regarding objects present in a scene a number oftechniques have been successfully practiced. For example, U.S. Pat. No.5,633,944 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Automatic OpticalRecognition of Road Signs” issued May 27, 1997 to Guibert et al. andassigned to Automobiles Peugeot discloses a systems wherein a laserbeam, or other source of coherent radiation, is used to scan theroadside in an attempt to recognize the presence of signs.

Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,691 entitled “Method and Apparatus forRobust Shape Detection Using a Hit/Miss Transform” issued Aug. 4, 1998to Narayanswamy et al. and assigned to the Regents of the University ofColorado (Boulder, Colo.) discloses a system for detecting abnormalcells in a cervical Pap-smear. In this system a detection unit inspectsa region of interest present in two dimensional input images andmorphologically detects structure elements preset by a system user. Byfurther including a thresholding feature the shapes and/or featuresrecorded in the input images can deviate from structuring elements andstill be detected as a region of interest. This reference clearly usesextremely controlled conditions, known presence of objects of interest,and continually fine-tuned filtering techniques to achieve reasonableperformance. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,915 entitled “PatternRecognition System Employing Unlike Templates to Detect Objects HavingDistinctive Features in a Video Field” issued May 6, 1997 to Rosser etal. and assigned to Princeton Video Image, Inc. of Princeton, N.J.discloses a method for rapidly and efficiently identifying landmarks andobjects using a plurality of templates that are sequentially created andinserted into live video fields and compared to a prior template(s) inorder to successively identify possible distinctive feature candidatesof a live video scene and also eliminate falsely identified features.The process disclosed by Rosser et al. is repeated in order topreliminarily identify two or three landmarks of the target object thelocations of these “landmarks” of the target object and finally saidlandmarks are compared to a geometric model to further verify if theobject has been correctly identified by process of elimination. Themethodology lends itself to laboratory verification against pre-recordedvideotape to ascertain accuracy before applying said system to actualtargeting of said live objects. This system also requires specifictemplates of real world features and does not operate on unknown videodata with its inherent variability of lighting, scene composition,weather effects, and placement variation from said templates to actualconditions in the field.

Further prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,308 entitled “PatternRecognition System” issued Nov. 7, 1995 to Hutcheson et al. and assignedto Datron/Transoc, Inc. of Simi Valley, Calif. discloses a method andapparatus under software control that uses a neural network to recognizetwo dimensional input images which are sufficiently similar to adatabase of previously stored two dimensional images. The images areprocessed and subjected to a Fourier transform (which yields a powerspectrum and then a in-class/out-of-class sort is performed). A featurevector consisting of the most discriminatory magnitude information fromthe power spectrum is then created and are input to a neural networkpreferably having two hidden layers, input dimensionality of elements ofthe feature vector and output dimensionality of the number of dataelements stored in the database. Unique identifier numbers arepreferably stored along with the feature vector. Applying a queryfeature vector to the neural network results in an output vector whichis subjected to statistical analysis to determine whether a thresholdlevel of confidence exists before indicating successful identificationhas occurred. Where a successful identification has occurred a uniqueidentifier number for the identified object may be displayed to the enduser to indicate. However, Fourier transforms are subject to largevariations in frequency such as those brought on by shading, or othertemporary or partial obscuring of objects, from things like leaves andbranches from nearby trees, scratches, bullet holes (especially if usedfor recognizing road signs), commercial signage, windshields, and otherreflecting surfaces (e.g., windows) all have very similarcharacteristics to road signs in the frequency domain.

In summary, the inventors have found that in the prior art related tothe problem of accurately identifying and classifying objects appearingin a videodata most all efforts utilize complex processing, illuminatedscenes, continual tuning of a single filter and/or systematic comparisonof aspects of an unknown object with a variety of shapes stored inmemory. The inventors propose a system that efficiently and accuratelyretrieves and catalogs information distilled from vast amounts ofvideodata so that object classification type(s), locations, and bitmapsdepicting the actual condition of the objects (when originally recorded)are available to an operator for review, comparison, or furtherprocessing to reveal even more detail about each object andrelationships among objects.

The present invention thus finds utility over this variety of prior artmethods and devices and solves a long-standing need in the art for asimple apparatus for quickly and accurately recognizing, classifying,and locating each of a variety of objects of interest appearing in avideostream. Determining that an object is the “same” object from adistinct image frame.

The present invention addresses an urgent need for virtually automaticprocessing of vast amounts of video data—that possibly depict one ormore desired objects—and then precisely recognize, accurately locate,extract desired characteristics, and, optionally, archive bitmap imagesof each said recognized object. Processing such video information viacomputer is preferred over all other forms of data interrogation, andthe inventors suggest that such processing can accurately andefficiently complete a task such as identifying and cataloguing hugenumbers of objects of interest to many public works departments andutilities; namely, traffic signs, traffic lights, man holes, power polesand the like disposed in urban, suburban, residential, and commercialsettings among various types of natural terrain and changing lightingconditions (i.e., the sun).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The exemplary embodiment described, enabled, and taught herein isdirected to the task of building a database of road signs by type,location, orientation, and condition by processing vast amounts of videoimage frame data. The image frame data depict roadside scenes asrecorded from a vehicle navigating said road. By utilizingdifferentiable characteristics the portions of the image frame thatdepict a road sign are stored as highly compressed bitmapped files eachlinked to a discrete data structure containing one or more of thefollowing memory fields: sign type, relative or absolute location ofeach sign, reference value for the recording camera, reference value fororiginal recorded frame number for the bitmap of each recognized sign.The location data is derived from at least two depictions of a singlesign using techniques of triangulation, correlation, or estimation.Thus, output signal sets resulting from application of the presentmethod to a segment of image frames can include a compendium of dataabout each sign and bitmap records of each sign as recorded by a camera.Thus, records are created for image-portions that possess (and exhibit)detectable unique differentiable characteristics versus the majority ofother image-portions of a digitized image frame. In the exemplarysign-finding embodiment herein these differentiable characteristics arecoined “sign-ness.” Thus, based on said differentiable characteristics,or sign-ness, information regarding the type, classification, condition(linked bitmap image portion) and/or location of road signs (andimage-portions depicting said road signs) are rapidly extracted fromimage frames. Those image frames that do not contain an appreciablelevel of sign-ness are immediately discarded.

Differentiable characteristics of said objects includeconvexity/symmetry, lack of 3D volume, number of sides, angles formed atcorners of signs, luminescence or lumina values, which representillumination tolerant response in the L*u*v* or LCH color spaces(typically following a transforming step from a first color space likeRGB); relationship of edges extracted from portions of image frames,shape, texture, and/or other differentiable characteristics of one ormore objects of interest versus background objects. The differentiablecharacteristics are preferably tuned with respect to the recordingdevice and actual or anticipated recording conditions are taught morefully hereinbelow.

The method and apparatus of the present invention rapidly identifies,locates, and stores images of objects depicted in digitized image framesbased upon one or more differentiable characteristic of the objects(e.g., versus non-objects and other detected background noise). Thepresent invention may be implemented in a single microprocessorapparatus, within a single computer having multiple processors, amongseveral locally-networked processors (i.e., an intranet), or via aglobal network of processors (i.e., the internet and similar). Portionsof individual image frames exhibiting an appreciable level ofpre-selected differentiable characteristics of desired objects areextracted from a sequence of video data and said portions of theindividual frames (and correlating data thereto) are used to confirmthat a set of several “images” in fact represent a single “object” of aclass of objects. These preselected differentiable characteristiccriteria are chosen from among a wide variety of detectablecharacteristics including color characteristics (color-pairs and colorset memberships), edge characteristics, symmetry, convexivity, lack of3D volume, number and orientation of side edges, characteristic cornerangles, frequency, and texture characteristics displayed by the2-dimensional (2D) images so that said objects can be rapidly andaccurately recognized. Preferably, the differentiable characteristicsare chosen with regard to anticipated camera direction relative toanticipated object orientation so that needless processing overhead isavoided in attempting to extract features and characteristics likely notpresent in a given image frame set from a known camera orientation.Similarly, in the event that a scanning recording device, or devices,are utilized to record objects populating a landscape, area, or otherspace the extraction devices can be preferably applied only to thoseframes that likely will exhibit appreciable levels of an extractedfeature or characteristic.

In a preferred embodiment of the inventive system taught herein, isapplied to image frames and unless at least one output signal from anextraction filter preselected to capture or highlight a differentiablecharacteristic of an object of interest exceeds a threshold value thethen-present image frame is discarded. For those image frames notdiscarded, an output signal set of location, type, condition, andclassification of each identified sign is produced and linked to atleast one bitmap image of said sign. The output signal set and bitmaprecord(s) are thus available for later scrutiny, evaluation, processing,and archiving. Of course, prefiltering or conditioning the image framesmay increase the viability of practicing the present invention. Someexamples include color calibration, color density considerations, videofiltering during image capture, etc.

In a general embodiment of the present invention, differentiablecharacteristics present in just two (2) images of a given object areused to confirm that the images in fact represent a single objectwithout any further information regarding the location, direction, orfocal length of an image acquisition apparatus (e.g., digital camera)that recorded the initial at least two image frames. However, if thelocation of the digital camera or vehicle conveying said digital camera(and the actual size of the object to be found) are known, just a single(1) image of an object provides all the data required to recognize andlocate the object.

The present invention has been developed to identify traffic control,warning, and informational signs, “road signs” herein, that appearadjacent to a vehicle right-of-way, are visible from said right of way,and are not obscured by non-signs. These road signs typically followcertain rules and regulations relative to size, shape, color (andallowed color combinations), placement relative to vehicle pathways(orthogonal), and sequencing relative to other classes of road signs.While the term “road sign” is used throughout this written descriptionof the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art to whichthe invention is directed will certainly realize applications of thepresent invention to other similar types of object recognition. Forexample, the present invention may be used to recognize, catalogue, andorganize searchable data relative to signs adjacent a rail road right ofway, nature trailways, recreational vehicle paths, commercial signage,utility poles, pipelines, billboards, man holes, and other objects ofinterest that are amenable to video capture techniques and thatinherently possess differentiable characteristics relative to theirlocal environment. Of course, the present invention may be practicedwith imaging systems ranging from monochromatic visible wavelengthcamera/film combinations to full color spectrum visible wavelengthcamera/memory combinations to ultraviolet, near infrared, or infraredimaging systems, so long as basic criteria are present: objectdifferentiability from its immediate milieu or range data.

Thus, the present invention transforms frames of digital video depictingroadside scenes using a set of filters that are logically combinedtogether with OR gates or combined algorithmically and each output isequally weighted, and that each operate quickly to capture adifferentiable characteristic of one or more road sign of interest.Frequency and spatial domain transformation, edge domain transformation(Hough space), color transformation typically from a 24 bit RGB colorspace to either a L*u*v* or LCH color space (using either fuzzy colorset tuning or neural network tuning for objects displaying adifferentiable color set), in addition to use of morphology(erosion/dilation), and a moment calculation applied to a previouslysegmented image frame is used to determine whether an area of interestthat contains an object is actually a road sign. The aspect ratio andsize of a potential object of interest (an “image” herein) can be usedto confirm that an object is very likely a road sign. If none of thefilters produces an output signal greater than a noise level signal,that particular image frame is immediately discarded. The inventors notethat in their experience, if the recording device is operating in anurban setting with a recording vehicle operating at normal urban drivingspeeds and the recording device has a standard frame rate (e.g., thirtyframes per second) only about twelve (12) frames per thousand (1.2%)have images, or portions of image frames, that potentially correlate toa single road sign of sufficiently detectable size. Typically only four(4) frames per thousand actually contain an object of interest, or roadsign in the exemplary embodiment. Thus, a practical requirement for asuccessful object recognition method is the ability to rapidly cull theninety-eight percent (98%) of frames that do not assist the objectrecognition process. In reality, more image frames contain some visiblecue as to the presence of a sign in the image frame, but the amount ofdifferentiable data is typically recorded by the best eight (8) of soimages of each potential object of interest. The image frames aretypically coded to correspond to a camera number (if multiple camerasare used) and camera location data (i.e., absolute location via GPS orinertial coordinates if INS is coupled to the camera of camera-carryingvehicle). If the location data comprises a time/position databasedirectly related to frame number (and camera information in amulti-camera imaging system) extremely precise location information ispreferably derived using triangulation of at least two of the related“images” of a confirmed object (road sign).

The present invention successfully handles partially obscured signs,skewed signs, poorly illuminated signs, signs only partially present inan image frame, bent signs, and ignores all other information present inthe stream of digital frame data (preferably even the posts that supportthe signs). One of skill in the art will quickly recognize that theexemplary system described herein with respect to traffic control roadsigns is readily adaptable to other similar identification of a largevariety of man-made structures. For example, cataloging the location,direction the camera is facing, condition, orientation and otherattributes of objects such as power poles, telephone poles, roadways,railways, and even landmarks to assist navigation of vehicles can besuccessfully completed by implementing the inventive method describedherein upon a series of images of said objects. In a general embodiment,the present invention can quickly and accurately distillarbitrary/artificial objects disposed in natural settings and except forconfirming at least one characteristic of the object (e.g., color,linear shape, aspect ratio, etc.), the invention operates successfullywithout benefit of pre-existing knowledge about the full shape, actualcondition, or precise color of the actual object.

The present invention is best illustrated with reference to one or morepreferred embodiments wherein a series of image frames (each containinga digital image of at least a portion of an object of interest) arereceived, at least two filters (or segmentation algorithms) applied,spectral data of the scene scrutinized so that those discrete imagesthat exceed at least one threshold of one filter during extractionprocessing become the subject of more focused filtering over an areadefined by the periphery of the image. The periphery area of the imageis found by applying common region growing and merging techniques togrow common-color areas appearing within an object. The fuzzy logiccolor filter screens for the color presence and may be implemented asneural network. In either event, an image area exhibiting a peak valuerepresentative of a color set which strongly correlates to a road signof interest is typically maintained for further processing. If and onlyif the color segmentation routine fails, a routine to determine thestrength of the color pair output is then applied to each image framethat positively indicated presence of a color pair above the thresholdnoise level. Then further segmentation is done possibly using color,edges, adaptive thresholding, color frequency signatures, or momentcalculations. Preferably the image frame is segmented into an arbitrarynumber of rectangular elements (e.g,. 32 or 64 segments). The area wherethe color pair was detected is preferably grown to include adjacentimage segments that also exhibit an appreciable color-pair signal inequal numbered segments. This slight expansion of a search space duringthe moment routine does not appreciably reduce system throughput in viewof the additional confirming data derived by expanding the space.Morphology techniques are then preferably used to grow and erode thearea defined by the moment routine-segmented space until either thegrown representation meets or fails to meet uniform criteria during thedilation and erosion of the now segmented image portion of the potentialobject (“image”). If the image area meets the morphological criteria afinal image periphery is calculated. Preferably this final imageperiphery includes less than the maximum, final grown image so thatpotential sources of error, such as non-uniform edges, and otherpotentially complex pixel data are avoided and the final grownrepresentation of the image essentially includes only the actual colored“face” of the road sign. A second order calculation can be completedusing the basic segmented moment space which determines the “texture” ofthe imaged area although the inventors of the present inventiontypically do not routinely sample for texture.

The face of the road sign can be either the colored front portion of aroad sign or the typically unpainted back portion of a road sign (if notobscured by a sign mounting surface). For certain classes of road signs,only the outline of the sign is all that is needed to accuratelyrecognize the sign. One such class is the ubiquitous eight-sided stopsign. A “bounding box” is defined herein as a polygon which follows theprincipal axis of the object. Thus, rotation, skew or a camera or asign, and bent signs are not difficult to identify. The principal axisis a line through the center of mass and at least one edge having aminimum distance to all pixels of the object. In this way a bounding boxwill follow the outline of a sign without capturing non-sign imageportions.

Then, the aspect ratio of the finally grown image segments is calculatedand compared against a threshold aspect ratio set (three are usedherein, each corresponding to one or more classes of road signs) and ifthe value falls within preset limits, or meets other criteria such as apercentage of color (# of pixels), moments, number of corners, cornerangles, etc., the threshold the image portion (road sign face) is savedin a descending ordered listing of all road signs of the same type(where the descending order corresponds to the magnitude or strength ofother depictions of possible road signs). For a class of road signswhere the sign only appears in as a partial sign image the inventors donot need special processing since only three intersecting edges(extracted via a Hough space transformation) grown together if necessaryin addition to color-set data is required to recognize most everyvariety of road sign. The aspect ratio referred to above can be one ofat least three types of bounding shape: a rectangular (or polygon)shape, an ellipse-type shape, or a shape that is mathematically relatedto circularity-type shape. For less than four-sided signs therectangular polygon shapes are used and for more than four sides theellipse-type shapes are used.

The frame buffer is typically generated by a digital image capturedevice. However, the present invention may be practiced in a systemdirectly coupled to a digital image capture apparatus that is recordinglive images, or a pre-recorded set of images, or a series of stillimages, or a digitized version of an original analog image sequence.Thus, the present invention may be practiced in real time, near realtime, or long after initial image acquisition. If the initial imageacquisition is analog, it must be first digitized prior to subjectingthe image frames to analysis in accordance with the invention hereindescribed, taught, enabled, and claimed. Also a monitor can be coupledto the processing equipment used to implement the present invention sothat manual intervention and/or verification can be used to increase theaccuracy of the ultimate output, a synchronized database ofcharacteristic type(s), location(s), number(s), damaged and/or missingobjects.

Thus the present invention creates at least a single output for eachinstance where an object of interest was identified. Further embodimentsinclude an output comprising one or more of the following: orientationof the road sign image, location of each identified object, type ofobject located, entry of object data into an Intergraph GIS database,and bitmap image(s) of each said object available for human inspection(printed and/or displayed on a monitor), and/or archived, distributed,or subjected to further automatic or manual processing.

Given the case of identifying every traffic control sign in a certainjurisdiction, the present invention is applied to scrutinize standardvideostream of all roadside scenes present in said jurisdiction. Mostjurisdictions authorize road signs to be painted or fabricated only withspecific discrete color-pairs, and in some cases color-sets (e.g.,typically having between one and four colors) for use as traffic controlsignage. The present invention exploits this feature in an exemplaryembodiment wherein a these discrete color-sets form a differentiablecriteria. Furthermore, in this embodiment a neural network is rapidlyand efficiently trained to recognize regions in the image frames thatcontain these color-sets. Examples of said color sets presently usefulin recognizing road signs in the U.S. include: red/white,white/black/red, green/white/blue, among several others easilycognizable by those of skill in the art.

Of course, certain characteristic colors themselves can assist therecognition of road signs from a scene. For example, a shade of yellowdepicts road hazard warnings and advisories, white signs indicate speedand permitted lane change maneuver data, red signs indicate prohibitedtraffic activity, etc. Furthermore, since only a single font is approvedfor on-sign text messages in the U.S. character recognition techniques(e.g., OCR) can be applied to ensure accurate identification of trafficcontrol signage as the objects of interest in a videostream. Therefore aneural network as taught herein is trained only on a few sets of imagedata including those visual characteristics of objects of interest suchas color, reflectance, fluorescence, shape, and location with respect toa vehicle right of way operates to accurately identify the scenes in aneconomical and rapid manner. In addition, known line extractingalgorithms, line completion, or “growing,” routines, and readilyavailable morphology techniques may be used to enhance the recognitionprocessing without adding significant additional processing overhead.

In a general application of the present invention, a conclusion may bedrawn regarding whether object(s) appearing in a sequence of video dataare fabricated by humans or naturally generated by other than manualprocessing. In this class of applications the present invention can beapplied to enhance the success of search and rescue missions wherepersonnel and vehicles (or portions of vehicles) may be randomlydistributed throughout a large area of “natural materials”. Likewise,the method taught in the present disclosure finds application inundersea, terrestrial, and extra-terrestrial investigations whereincertain “structured” foreign (artificial or man-made) materials arepresent in a scene of interest might only occur very infrequently over avery large sample of videostream (or similar) data. The presentinvention operates as an efficient graphic-based search engine too. Thetask of identifying and locating specific objects in huge amounts ofvideo data such as searching for missile silos, tanks, or otherpotential threats depicted in images captured from remote sensingsatellites or air vehicles readily benefits from the automated imageprocessing techniques taught, enabled, and disclosed herein.

A person of skill in the art will of course recognize myriadapplications of the invention taught herein beyond the repetitive objectidentification, fabricated materials identification, and navigationexamples recited above. These and other embodiments of the presentinvention shall be further described herein with reference to thedrawings appended hereto.

The following figures are not drawn to scale and only detail a fewrepresentative embodiments of the present invention, more embodimentsand equivalents of the representative embodiments depicted herein areeasily ascertainable by persons of skill in the art.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of the present invention illustrated as ablock diagram wherein video image frame segments feed into a set of atleast two extraction filters which have outputs that are logically“OR'd”, each non useful image frame is discarded and regions of usefulimage frames inspected, the regions satisfying sign criteria classified,saved original frame number, and, if desired a correlated sign listlinked to camera, frame number, location, or orientation is produced andlinked to at least one actual bitmapped image frame portion depictingthe sign.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C depict a portion of a image frame wherein parts ofthe edges of a potential object are obscured (in ghost), or otherwiseunavailable, in an image frame (2A), and the same image frame portionundergoing edge extraction and line completion (2B), and the finalenhanced features of the potential object (2C).

FIG. 3A depicts a plan view of a propelled image acquisition vehiclesystem and FIG. 3B depicts a vehicle having multiple weather hardenedcamera ports for recording features adjacent a vehicle right-of-way(each side, above, on the surface of the right-of-way, and a rearwardview of the recording path).

FIG. 4 depicts a processing system for classifying road signs appearingin image data from multiple imaging capture devices wherein capturedevices SYS1 through SYS4 utilize unique recognition filter specificallydeveloped for each said capture device (focal/optics, recordingorientation, and camera/vehicle location specific for each imagingsystem).

FIG. 5 depicts a plan view of a preferred camera arrangement for use inpracticing the present invention wherein two image capture devicesrecord road signs are directed in the direction of travel of thevehicle.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of a typical road sign depictinga border region, an interior portion of solid color, and the outlineborder appearing thereon.

FIGS. 7A-F depicts the general outline and shape of six relativelycommon road signs.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is first described primarily with reference FIG. 1wherein an image frame 11 which has captured a portion of a road sidescene which basically is the same as a field of view 11 of camera 10from the scene conveyed via optics 12 to a focal plane of camera imagingmeans 10 which preferably includes suitable digital imaging electronicsas is known an used in the art. The scene depicted in frame 11 (orsubsequent frames 22, 33, 44, etc.) of FIG. 4B can contain severalobjects (A, B, C, D) of interest disposed therein. In one embodiment ofthe present invention, a single imaging means 10 is directed toward theroad side from the vehicle 46 as the vehicle navigates normal trafficlanes of a roadway. The imaging means 10 often comprises several imagingdevices 20, 30, 40 wherein each possibly overlaps other camera(s) and isdirected toward a slightly different field of view 22, 33, 44,respectively (see FIG. 4B) than the other imaging devices comprisingimaging means 10 at objects A-D, etc. with sufficient clarity upon thesuitable digital imaging electronics of imaging means 10 to derivechromatic and edge details from said electronics. The imaging means 10can be multiple image means having a variety of optical properties(e.g., focal lengths, aperture settings, frame capture rate) tuned tocapture preselected portions of a scene of interest. When multiple imagemeans 10 are used to capture image frames each said image means 10 iselectronically coupled to the processing system of the present inventionand each is tuned with its own unique processing method(s) to optimizethe quality/accuracy of the outputs therefrom so that all frame data notrelated to “images” of potential objects are filtered and then “images”of said objects compared in an “object search space” are compared sothat all qualified images that correspond to a single object can belinked to said single object regardless which discrete imaging means 10originally recorded the image(s) of the object. In this embodiment, adedicated CPU for each imaging means 10 is provided to speed processingtoward “real time” processing rates. Furthermore, said dedicated CPUcould be provided from a single box CPU having many separate CPUsdisposed therein, a networked group of linked CPU's, or a global networkof linked CPU's (e.g., world wide web or internet-type network).

Typically, imaging means 10, 20, 20, 40 are tuned so that approximatelybetween five and forty percent (5-40%) of the available two dimensionalimage frame space are captured per single object when said single objectis “fully depicted” in a given frame. If an object of known size thusfills a field of view of an imaging means 10, a rough estimate of actualdistance from the camera may be calculated (and this data can be used ifneeded to assist the process of accurately finding the actual positionof an recognized object in a scene).

The present invention operates sufficiently well under ambient lightingconditions when the imaging means 10 captures radiation from the visiblespectrum. Although scene illumination may augmented with a source ofillumination directed toward the scene of interest in order to diminishthe effect of poor illumination and illumination variability amongimages of objects. However, the present invention is not dependent uponsaid additional source of illumination but if one is used the source ofillumination should be chosen to elicit a maximum visual response from asurface of objects of interest. For example, source of illuminationcould be a high-intensity halogen bulb designed to create a maximumreflected signal from a surface of object and wherein object is a classof traffic control signs. In this way, at least one object present in ascene likely distinctly appears in a portion of two or more frames. Thena variety of logically OR'd extraction routines and filters extractimage portions that exhibit said differentiable characteristics (whichmay be a slightly different set of characteristics than would be usedfor non-illuminated recording. As in the other embodiments, the videodata stream is preferably linked to data for each imaging device (e.g.,absolute position via GPS or d-GPS transponder/receiver, or relativeposition via INS systems, or a combination of GPS and INS systems, etc.)so the location of each identified object is known or at leastsusceptible to accurate calculation.

In one manner of practicing the invention, location data is synchronizedto the video data from the imaging means 10 so that location and imageinformation are cross-referenced to correlate the location of the objectusing known techniques of triangulation and assuming a set of knowncamera parameters. As described further herein, triangulation may bereplaced or augmented if the camera recording perspective angle is aknown quantity relative to the vehicle recording path and the vehiclelocation are known (an by applying known camera parameter values, suchas focal length). Furthermore, if the pixel height or aspect ratio(herein used to describe area of coverage measures) of confirmed objectsare known, the location of the object can be deduced and recorded. Thus,this data is synchronized so that each image frame may be processed orreviewed in the context of the recording camera which originallycaptured the image, the frame number from which a bitmapped portion wascaptured, and the location of the vehicle (or exact location of eachcamera conveyed by the vehicle) may be quickly retrieved.

A location matrix corresponding to the location of a confirmed objectmay be built from the output data sets of the present invention. Atseveral points in the processing of the image frames, manual inspection,interaction, and/or intervention may be sought to further confirm theaccuracy of the present invention as to the presence or absence of apotential object therein. Thus, an additional output may be stored orimmediately sent to a human user which includes each “questionable”identification of an object wherein each said questionableidentification event may be quickly, although manually, reviewed withreference to this data (and a simple “confirm” or “fail” flag set by ahuman user).

The preferred rate of video capture for digital moving cameras used inconjunction with the present invention is thirty (30) frames per secondalthough still photos and faster or substantially slower image capturerates can be successfully used in conjunction with the present inventionparticularly if the velocity of the recording vehicle can be adapted forcapture rates optimized for the recording apparatus. A high imagecapture rate creates latitude for later sampling techniques whichdiscard large percentages of said frames in order to find a preselectedlevel of distinguishing features among the images within the frames thatare not discarded.

Road side objects frequently are partially obscured from the roadway byother vehicles and/or roadside features such as trees, signage, hedges,etc. High frame rates enable the present system to ignore these moredifficult scenes (and corresponding image frames with little downside.Filtering may be done here to correct for known camera irregularitiessuch as lens distortion, color gamut recording deficiencies, lensscratches, etc. These may be determined by recording a known cameratarget (real objects, not just calibration plates). Because the imagingvehicle is moving their motion causes a certain degree of blurring ofmany objects in many frames. A sharpening filter which seeks to preserveedges is preferably used to overcome this often encounteredvehicle-induced recording error. Although this filter may benefit from,but does not require, a priori knowledge of the motion flow of pixelswhich will remain fairly constant in both direction and magnitude in thecase of a vehicle-based recording platform.

The frame buffer 44 is preferably capable of storing 24 bit colorrepresentative of the object 40 represented in an RGB color space andthe number of significant color bits should be five (5) or greater. Theframe buffer 44 is subjected to an edge detector utility 55 as known inthe art (and which can be directly coded as assembly language code as asimple mathematical function), such as the Sobel extractor. Theinventors note that the convolving filters used herewith (and in factthe entire class of convolving filters) may be simply coded in assemblylanguage and benefit greatly from SIMD instructions such as MMX as usedin the Pentium II computer processors of Intel Corporation, of SantaClara, Calif., U.S.A., which speeds processing and eliminates a marginof processing overhead. The frame buffer is separated into two channelsof data, a first data set of edge data and a second data set of colordata. As earlier mentioned only a small subset of high-reflectancecolors are typically authorized for use as road sign colors, andfurthermore, the set of colors authorized can be generally characterizedas non-typical colors (i.e., occurring only in conjunction with objectsof interest).

Information about a series of at least two (2) images in different imageframes is needed (prior to the images to be “combined” into a singleconfirmed object) and the information about each confirmed object ispreferably saved in a parametric data format (i.e., as scaleable data).

Either a thresholding routine, a fuzzy color set, or a neural networkcan be used to the extract relevant color-set data. The effect is simplyto alter the range of colors that will successfully activate a flag ormarker related to the color data set so that small variations in colorof the sign (due to different illumination of images of the same object,UV exposure, different colorants, different manufacturing dates for thecolorant, etc.) do not tend to create erroneous results. Accordingly,thresholding red to trip just when stop sign-red is detected incombination with the rule set of relative location of different types ofsigns helps eliminate pseudo-signs (something that looks something likea sign of interest, but isn't). In the event that a portion of a sign isobscured (either by another sign, or by unrelated objects) just two (2)opposing corners for four-sided signs, and three (3) corners that do notshare a common edge for six and eight-sided signs (as exhibited by twointersecting edges which meet at a set of detectable, distinctivecharacteristic angles) is typically required to identify whether anappropriate edge of a real sign has been encountered. A special aspectof signs exploited by the present invention is that most road signs havea thin, bold strip around substantially the entire periphery of the faceof the sign. This bold periphery strip is often interrupted where smallsign indicia are typically printed. Thus the characteristic stripingoperates as a very useful feature when reliably detected as is possiblewith the present invention and in practical terms this border offers two(2) opportunities to capture an edge set having the proper spatial andangular relationships of an object thereby increasing the likelihoodthat a sign having a typical border will be accurately and rapidlyrecognized by the present inventive system.

Then, if the image illumination is sufficient for color detection thetype of road sign can be determined by filtering the color data set withthe inventive hysteresis filter described herein. This allow detectionof signs appearing adjacent to red stop signs that might otherwiseappear as another color to the camera (and perhaps to a cameraoperator). Because in the U.S. informational signs are typically whiteor blue, directional and jurisdictional signs are typically green, andcaution signs are typically yellow, which all produce relatively subtlediscontinuities compared to red stop signs, detecting the subtletiesamong the former presents a difficulty economically solved by thepresent invention. In conjunction with the color data set, and given anassumption that the videostream depicting the road side signage wascaptured by a vehicle navigating in a normal traffic lane, the locationof a road sign (in a temporal and literal sense) in successive frameshelps indicate precisely the type of sign encountered. Further, theinventive system herein described further takes advantage of the limitedfonts used for text appearing on road signs as well as the limited typesof graphical icons depicted on certain signs. This type of sign indiciacan be put into a normalized orientation and simple OCR ortemplate-matching techniques readily and successfully applied. Thesetechniques work especially well in cooperation with the presentinvention because the segmentation and normalization routines haveremoved non-sign background features and the size and position of thesign indicia are not variant. With respect to road signs painted on thesurface of a road the color, message, shape, sequence, and locationrelative to a typical vehicle allow rapid and accurate identificationusing the present invention. In particular, use of a text segmentingroutine practically causes the entire road to fail to record ameaningful value and the “sign” on the road becomes readily apparent(e.g., stripes, lines, messages, arrows, etc.).

Once an image (portion of an image frame) has been created and stored inthe image list database then the area of the sign is marked in theframe. This marked region is the perimeter eroded at least one fullpixel. This area is not considered to be part of any other sign. Thescene is then reprocessed after having re-initializing all the adaptiveparameters and hysteresis filters, surround inputs are changed also onthe nth pass from the N-1 pass. For example, after an image portiondepicting a stop sign is marked and essentially removed from the imageframe during later re-processing of the image frame, the pixelscorresponding to said marked region are set to a null value. This aidslater processing techniques that compare a number of adjacent pixels inorder to identify boundaries of signs. Thus a potential source of bias;namely, prior pixel values from the originally recorded image from areremoved during later processing and to the extent that the values of aset of pixels in said removed area are needed for boundary or edgedetection. This single hysteresis filter therefore is highly adaptableand useful in practicing the present invention since it operateseffectively in the growing of areas exhibiting a common color set (or“bucket” of color defined as the subtle variety of colors commonlyobserved as single road sign color as a result of changing viewingconditions) and it operates effectively as an progressively finerhysteresis filtering wherein the discontinuities become less readilyapparent. For example, a red sign creates a relatively sharpdiscontinuity relative to almost all background colors. Once identifiedas an image portion of interest, and removing said image portion, laterfull image frame processing for other discontinuities will likely needto accurately discern between shades of white and blue, yellow, orgreen. In these cases, the technique just described greatly enhances theability to rapidly extract a variety of signs present in even a singleimage frame using just the inventive hysteresis filter.

Two sets of data, edge data and the color data are fed to an input nodeof a preferably three layer neural network which adds an entry to a 3Dstructure based on the location of a portion of the frame buffer 44presently being processed. In effect, the 2D image contained in anygiven frame buffer is processed and compared to other frame buffers tocreate 3D regions of interest (ROI). In this context, the ROI refers toa fabricated space which contains a length of video so that a number ofpossible objects due to a either color, edge features, location to otherpossible objects, etc. Another way to consider the ROI is as avolumetric entity that has position and size both specified in a 3Dspace. This ROI is used as a search query into the set of all images.They are searched based on inclusion in a predefined ROI. This databaseincludes all the “images” and so this searching occurs after theprocessing of all the data (i.e., extracting and filtering of a set orsegment of image frames). This data may have been collected at differenttimes including different seasonal conditions. The intersection of thesets of signs present will be identified as signs and can be identifiedwith special processing appropriate for such signs (e.g., winter parkingsigns, temporary construction signs, detour signs, etc.). Regardless, ofthe number or types of classes for the signs, the database is stored asa octree tree or any comparable searchable 3D memory structure.

During operation of the present invention all detected images of signsare assigned to an “image list” and by sequentially attempting to match“closely separated” pairs of images in an octree space of commonclassification, a “sign list” is generated. Once two or more members ofthe image list are matched, or “confirmed” as a single actual sign, eachimage is removed from further searching/pairing techniques. Adynamically-sized region of interest (ROI) which can be interpreted as avoxel, or volume pixel, populated by several images for each actual signis used to organize the image list into a searchable space that“advances” down the original recorded vehicle roadway as transformed tomany discrete images of the actual signs. Thus, the ROI is continuallyadvanced forward within the relative reference frame of the vehicle andafter each pair is correlated to a single sign, their correspondingrecords in the image list are removed. During this process, where asingle orphan image (non-confirmed, possible sign) appears it is culledto an orphan list which is then subjected to a larger search space thanthe first ROI to try to find a correlation of the single image toanother corresponding image and/or ported to a human user forinterpretation. This may result in the image being merged into a signusing relaxed matching constraints because it is known from the absoluteposition of the sign and the known arc of possible positions and the useof simple depth sorting that can “prove” they are the same sign. Thiscan be done even when the intersection of the sets of shared spatialfeatures is empty. At this point the GPS or location database can beconsulted to further aid identification. Manual review of a “best”selected and saved bitmap image of the unidentified object furtherenhances the likelihood of accurate identification and classification ofthe image object and presently the inventive system saves every imagebut culls all but the eight (8) or so having the highest magnitudesignal from the initial filter sets.

Preferably, there are three (3) basic filters used to recognize aportion of an image frame as a sign which deserves to have membership inthe “image list.” Edge intersection criteria are applied albeit relaxed(the edges are transformed into “lines of best fit” in Hough space byusing adaptive sizing, or “buckets,”) so that valid edge intersectionsexhibiting “sign-ness” are found; color-set membership; and neural netspatial characteristics. As noted above, the Fourier transformrecognition techniques suffer from a reliance on the frequency domainwhere many background objects and non-objects exhibit sign-ness asopposed to the spatial domain used beneficially herein where suchpotential errors (or false positives) are encountered. Using acompressed histogram of the color of the face of a sign allows in ahighly compressed bitmap file and if a boundary edge of the sign isreduced so that only a common shade (or color) is present thecompression of the image frame portion can be very efficient. Theinventors observe that even very small (1-2 pixels) spots of detectablecolor can be used for relatively long range confirmation of objectcolor.

The inventors suggest that up to thirty to forty (30-40) images per signare often available and adequate to scrutinize but at a minimum only one(1) reasonable depiction of an actual sign is required to perform thepresent inventive technique (if object size and camera location areknown) and only approximately three (3) images are needed to provideextremely high identification accuracy rates. In a general embodiment,the present invention is configured as a graphic-based search enginethat can scrutinize an extremely large number of frames of image data tolog just a desired single object recognition event.

To reiterate the coined term “sign-ness” it is used herein to describethose differentiable characteristics of signs versus characteristics ofthe vast majority of other things depicted in an image frame that areused to recognize signs without use of reference targets, templates, orknown image capture conditions. Thus, a general embodiment of thepresent invention is herein expressly covered by the disclosure hereinin which the presence of any object of interest, or portion of such anobject, can be discretely recognized provided said object of interestcomprises a discrete set of differentiable qualities in comparison toother elements of a scene of interest. To paraphrase, each image frameis discarded if it exhibits little or no “sign-ness” because the imageframe either does not hold an image of a sign or insufficient detail ofa sign to be useful. Stated a different way, the present invention usespartial function weight analysis techniques to discard useless frames(e.g., frames without a sufficient amount of a differentiable color,edge definition, or other differentiable feature of a desired object)and/or a relaxed confidence interval that strongly weights approximateminimum basis function elements known to produce a correlation to a realworld object.

The concept of further classification of identified objects can includecapture and analysis of text and other indicia printed on an object byusing suitable normalization routines or extractors and specificallyinclude well known OCR and template-based matching techniques. Theseroutines and extractor engines allow for size, position, and rotationalvariances of said indicia. Thus, for example, this allows classificationof objects to a much more detailed level. In the sign-findingembodiment, this means that detailed information can be captured andcompared. This allows sorting or searching for all instances where thephrase “Nicollet Avenue” appears, where the phrase appears on cornerstreet signs versus directional signs, or wherein all signs identifiedand located on a street named Nicollet Avenue can be rapidly retrieved,displayed, and/or conveyed.

The inventors have produced embodiments of the present invention usingrelatively cheap (in terms of processing overhead) functions in order torapidly and efficiently process the video data stream. Initial screenmay be done on scaled down version of the frame buffer. Later filter maybe run on the full size data or even super sampled versions of the fullsize data. Thus, certain functions applied to the video data streamquickly and easily indicate that one or more image frames should bediscarded without further processing or inspection and their use ispromoted as an expedient given the present state and cost of processingpower. For example, if only standard stop signs need to be recognizedand their position logged, shape is a key distinguishing, dispositivefeature and a search function based solely on shape will adequatelyrecognize a stop sign even if the video data stream depicts only theunpainted rear of the stop sign.

The neural network preferably used in conjunction with the presentinvention is a three layer feed forward neural network having a singleinput layer, hidden layer, and an output layer. The back propagationdata for training the network typically utilize random weights for theinitial training sets applied to assist the neural network learning thecharacteristics of the set of objects to be identified and the trainingsets preferably consist of sets with and without objects depictedtherein, real-world sets, and worst-case sets. Those nodes of the neuralnetwork used to encode important spatial features will varyproportionally to the input resolution of the frame buffer 44 and isdynamically reconfigurable to any resolution. The neural network needsto learn size invariance, which is typically a tough problem for neuralnetworks, and thus the training sets assist the neural network indistinguishing a “little” from a “big” object and matching them based onshape (the object seems to grow in the frame buffer as it nears theimage acquisition apparatus). Size variation is further controlled bycutting off recognition of small (less than 5% of frame) images and alsoby using a unique neural network for each camera. Camera orientation andfocus produce remarkably similar size views particularly on side-facingcameras because of their approximate orthogonal orientation to thedirection of travel and the signs closeness to the road on which thevehicle is traveling. The neural network preferably uses what are knownas convex sets (which exhibit the ability to distinguish betweeninformation sets given only a single (or a most a few) select criteria.In the preferred embodiment, shape and color, color edges, colordifferences, corners, ellipsicity, etc. of the images identified aspotential objects are used to create this differentiability among signs.As earlier noted, when more than one image acquisition means 10 are usedfor a single scene of interest, each image acquisition means 10 needs tohave a separate neural network trained on the types of image framesproduced by each image acquisition means.

Hexagonal, rectangular, and diamond shapes are preferably encoded in thetraining sets for the neural network so that an n-feature object may berecognized without any direct relationship to only color, shape, and/oredge rotation.

The principles of “morphology” are preferably applied to dilate anderode a detected sign portion to confirm that the object has anacceptable aspect ratio (circularity or ellipsivity—depending on thenumber of sides) which is another differentiable characteristic of roadsign used to confirm recognition events. These can be described as “edgechain” following where edge descriptors are listed and connected andextended in attempts to complete edges that correspond to an actual edgedepicted in a frame. Morphology is thus used to get the “basic shape” ofan object to be classified even if there are some intervening coloredpixels that do not conform to a preselected color-set for a given classor type of sign. In the preferred embodiment, a color data set can beginas a single pixel of a recognizable color belonging to the subset ofacceptable road sign colors and the morphology principles are used todetermine shape based on at least a four (4) pixel height and an ten(10) pixel width. The frame, or border stripe of most signs, has todecompose to the orientation transformation of the small templar (i.e.,they must share a common large-size shape in a later frame and mustdecompose to a common small-size templar feature—typically at a viewinghorizon).

Furthermore, texture “segmentation” as known in the art, can be appliedto an image, particularly if one or more line and/or edge filters failto supply a an output value of significant magnitude. One feature oftexture segmentation is that one very large feature of many imageframes, the road itself, buildings, walls, and the sky all disappear, orfail to record a meaningful output, under most texture segmentationroutines.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C which depict a portion of a imageframe wherein parts of the edges of a potential object are obscured (inghost), or otherwise unavailable, in an image frame (2A), and the sameimage frame portion undergoing edge extraction and line completion (2B),and the final enhanced features of the potential object (2C).

Referring now to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B which each depicts a propelledimage acquisition vehicle 46 conveying imaging systems 10, 20, 30, 40each preferably comprises of unique cameras tuned to optimally recordroad signs and other featured objects adjacent a vehicle right-of-way.While two cameras are perceived as the best by the inventors the presentinvention operates adequately with several cameras each covering atleast those objects on each side of the road, above the road surface, onthe surface of the road, and a rearward view of the recording path. Inalternative embodiments the inventors envision at least two camerasoriented on a vehicle traveling down a railroad right of way in whichthe processing techniques are trained to recognize the discrete objectsof interest that populate the railroad bed, railway intersections,roadway crossings, and adjacent properties without departing from thespirit and strength of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 5 which is a view depicting a preferred embodimentof the present invention wherein the four imaging devices 10, 20, 30, 40are combined into a single road sign detection system.

In summary, in the exemplary road sign identification embodiment, avideostream containing a series of signs in one or more frames issubjected to processing equipment that rapidly applies extractionroutines to quickly cull the typically high number of useless imagesfrom the useful images. Fortunately, road signs benefit from a simpleset of rules regarding the location of signs relative to vehicles on theroadway (left, right, above, and a very limited set of painted-on-roadsigns and markings), the color of signs (preferably limited to discretecolor-sets), the physical size and shape of signs, even the font used ontext placed upon signs, indicia color, indicia shape, indicia size, andindicia content, the orientation of the signs (upright and facingoncoming traffic), and the sequence in which the variety of signs aretypically encountered by the average vehicle operator. Because of theintended usage of these signs for safety of vehicles these standards arerigidly followed and furthermore these rules of sign color and placementadjacent vehicle rights of way do not vary much from jurisdiction tojurisdiction and therefore the present invention may be used quickly fora large number of different jurisdictions. Furthermore, pedestrian,cycle, and RV path signage identification may likewise benefit from thepresent invention. Although the border framing the road sign has beendescribed as one of the most easily recognized features of road signs(and in many cases is dispositive of the issue of whether or not a signis present in an image frame) the present system operates effectivelyupon road signs that do not have such a border. If a sign is reclinedfrom normal, only a portion of the border frame is needed to ascertainwhether the image portion is a portion of a road sign by creating anormalized representation of the sign (typically just the top edge).Another such technique applies Bayesian techniques that exploits thefact that the probability of two events occurring at the intersection ofthe two possibilities. Other techniques are surely known to those ofskill in the art.

Referring to FIG. 6, an optimum image gathering vehicle is depictedhaving at least two image capture devices directed toward the directionof travel of said vehicle.

Referring to FIGS. 7A-F are views of the outlines of a variety of commonstandard U.S. road signs.

Hardware platforms preferred by the inventors include processors havingMMX capability (or equivalent) although others can be used in practicingthe present invention. One of skill in the art will appreciate that thepresent apparatus and methods can be used with other filters that arelogically OR'd together to rapidly determine “object-ness” of a varietyof objects of interest. The differentiable criteria used in conjunctionwith the present invention can vary with the characteristics of theobjects of interest. For road signs, the inventors teach, disclose, andenable use of discrete color-sets or edges (extracted and/or extended tocreate a property best described as “rectangularity”) or orientation ofa sign to the roadway for only one view of the roadside from a singlerecording device or texture to rapidly discern which image framesdeserve further processing. A net effect of this hierarchical strategyis the extremely rapid pace at which image frames that do notimmediately create an output signal from one of the filters of thefilter set are discarded so that processing power is applied only to theimage frames most likely to contain an object of interest. The inventorssuggest that the inventive method herein taught will propel thetechnology taught, enabled, and claimed herein to become widelyavailable to the public. Thereafter, myriad valuable implementations ofthe technology presented herein shall become apparent. Other embodimentsof the present invention included are easily realized following exposureto the teaching herein and each is expressly intended to be coveredhereby.

Further, those embodiments specifically described and illustrated hereinare merely just that, embodiments of the invention herein described,depicted, enabled and claimed, and should not be used to unduly restrictthe scope or breadth of coverage of each patent issuing hereon.Likewise, as noted earlier, the invention taught herein can be appliedin many ways to identify and log specific types of objects that populatea scene of interest to assist in vehicle navigation, physicalmapping/logging status by object location and type, and identifying,linear man-made materials present in a scene generally populated bynatural materials.

EXAMPLE 1

A method of recognizing and determining the location of at least one ofa variety of road signs from at least two image frames depicting atleast one road sign wherein available known values regarding thelocation, orientation, and focal length of an image capture device whichoriginally recorded the at least two image frames, comprising the stepsof:

receiving at least two image frames that each depict at least a singlecommon road sign and which correspond to an identifier tag including atleast a one of the following items: camera number, frame number, cameralocation coordinates, or camera orientation;

applying a fuzzy logic color filter to said at least two image frames;

filtering out and saving image frame portions containing each regionthat contain at least one preselected color-pair of a pair-set ofapproved road sign colors; and

saving to a memory location said image frame portions of the at least asingle common road sign depicted in one of said at least two imageframes which is linked to at least a one of the following items: acamera number, an image frame number, a set of camera locationcoordinates, or a camera orientation direction used for recording.

EXAMPLE 2

An method for recognizing an object and classifying it by type,location, and visual condition from a digitized video segment of imageframes comprising the steps of:

applying two filters to an image frame wherein the two filters eachcapture at least one differentiable characteristic of the object ofinterest;

extracting a first data set and a second data set from said two filters;

comparing said first data set and said second data set to thresholdvalues;

discarding said image frame if the first or second data set do notexceed the threshold and

adding said image frame to an image frame library of possible imagesdepicting actual objects.

EXAMPLE 3

A method for identifying similar objects depicted in at least two bitmapframe buffers of a digital processor, comprising the steps of:

receiving a digital image frame that corresponds to a unique camera, acamera location, an image frame reference value;

applying a set of equally weighted filters to said image frame whereineach of said equally weighted filters each creates an output signaladjusted to reflect the magnitude of a different differentiablecharacteristic of an object of interest;

OR-ing the resulting output signals from each of the equally weightedfilters and saving only those image frames in which at least one of theequally weighted filters produces the output signal having a localmaximum value.

EXAMPLE 4

A method of identifying traffic control signs adjacent a vehicle rightof way, comprising the steps of:

receiving a digital videostream composed of individual image framesdepicting a roadway as viewed from a vehicle traversing said roadway;

iteratively comparing bitmap frames of said videostream to determine ifa first bitmap pixel set matches a second bitmap pixel set in terms ofreflectance, color, or shape of an object depicted therein;

placing all members of the first pixel set and the second pixel set thatmatch each other in an identified field of a database structure;

synchronizing a geo-positioning signal to the identified field; and

storing a representative bitmap image of either the first pixel set orthe second pixel set in conjunction with the geo-positioning signal.

EXAMPLE 5

A method of rapidly recognizing road signs depicted in at least oneframe of a digital videosignal, comprising the steps of:

applying at least two equally weighted filters to at least one frame ofa digital depiction of a road side scene so that for each of the atleast two equally weighted filters a discrete output value is obtained;

comparing the discrete output value for each respective said at leasttwo equally weighted filters and if a discrete output of at least one ofsaid at least two equally weighted filters does not exceed a referencevalue then discarding the at least one frame of digital videosignal, butif one said discrete output exceeds a reference value; and then

setting a road sign “image present” flag for said at least one frame ofa digital videosignal;

further comprising the steps of

saving a bitmap image of a portion of said at least one frame of digitalvideosignal recording a location data metric corresponding to thelocation of the camera which originally recorded the at least one frameof digital videosignal; and

wherein the location data metric further comprises the direction thecamera was facing while recording, the focal length of the camera, andthe location of the camera as recorded by at least one globalpositioning device.

Although that present invention has been described with reference todiscrete embodiments, no such limitation is to be read into the claimsas they alone define the metes and bounds of the invention disclosed andenabled herein. One of skill in the art will recognize certaininsubstantial modifications, minor substitutions, and slight alterationsof the apparatus and method claimed herein, that nonetheless embody thespirit and essence of the claimed invention without departing from thescope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of rapidly identifying whether adigitized image frame may contain objects of interest that are depictedin at least one frame of a digital image comprising the steps of: foreach digitized image frame of said digital image: applying at least twoseparate filters to said frame to generate a discrete output value fromeach other, wherein each of at least two of said filters screens for adifferentiable characteristic associated with the objects of intereststhat is unique to that filter; comparing the discrete output values foreach of said at least two filters to at least one reference; andidentifying said frame as potentially having an object of interestpresent if at least one of the discrete output values indicates adifferentiable characteristic is present for said frame when thediscrete output values are compared to the at least one reference. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying said framefurther comprises the step of saving at least a portion of saiddigitized image frame.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said digitalimage is recorded by at least one camera that is in motion during therecording of said at least one digitized image frames and wherein thestep of identifying said digitized image frame further comprises thestep of saving a location data metric corresponding to a location of thecamera when said digitized image frame was originally recorded.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the step of saving the location data metriccomprises saving at least an orientation of the camera while recording,a focal length of the camera, and the location of the camera.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: for each digitizedimage frame identified as having an object of interest: segmenting saidframe into at least one region of interest; applying at least one filterto each of said regions of interest which differentiates between varioustypes of objects of interest so as to classify each of said regions ofinterest by type; and creating a record in a database corresponding toeach type of object of interest that stores at least a portion of abitmap corresponding to each region of interest in said frame ofclassified as containing that type of object of interest.
 6. The methodof claim 1, wherein each of said at least two filters is selected fromthe set of the following filters: an edge filter, a color-pair filter, acolor filter operating in the L*u*v color space, an edge filter combinedwith a line extender, or a color filter operating in the LCH colorspace.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step ofdiscarding said digitized image frames not identified as potentiallyhaving an object of interest present.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinthe differentiable characteristics of each of said at least two filtersis selected from the set comprising: color characteristics, edgecharacteristics, texture characteristics, symmetry, convexity, lack ofthree dimensional volume, number and orientation of side edges,characteristic corner angles, frequency, and luminescence.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein said digital image is captured as said at least onedigitized image frames in a frame buffer.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein said digitized image frames in said frame buffer are operablygenerated by a digital image capture device that is recording saiddigital image as an image selected from the set comprising: live images,a pre-recorded set of images, a series of still images or a digitizedversion of an original analog image sequence.
 11. The method of claim 1,further comprising the steps of: for each digitized image frameidentified as having an object of interest: segmenting said frame into aplurality of non-overlapping image segments; identifying a segment thatthat exhibits a differentiable characteristic as a search space; andexpanding said search space to include segments adjacent to said segmentthat exhibits the differentiable characteristics.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the step of expanding further comprises the step of:utilizing morphology techniques to grow and erode said search space byadding or subtracting segments adjacent said search space until eithersaid search space meets or fails to meet uniform criteria for adifferentiable characteristic.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein saiddigitized image frames comprise a large number of frames of image dataand the method is used as part of a graphic-based search engine torecognize a desired single object within said large number of frames ofimage data.
 14. In a computer system, a computer-readable storage mediastoring: at least one computer program that operates to rapidly identifywhether a digitized image frame may contain objects of interest that aredepicted in at least one frame of a digital image by performing for eachdigitized image frame of said digital image the steps of: applying atleast two separate filters to said frame to generate a discrete outputvalue from each filter, wherein each of at least two of said filtersscreens for a differentiable characteristic associated with the objectsof interest that is unique to that filter; comparing the discrete outputvalues for each of said at least two filters to at least one reference;and identifying said frame as potentially having an object of interestpresent if at least one of the discrete output values indicates adifferentiable characteristics is present for said frame when thediscrete output values are compared to the at least one reference. 15.The storage media of claim 14, wherein the step of identifying saidframe further comprises the step of saving at least a portion of saiddigitized image frame.
 16. The storage media of claim 14, wherein saiddigital image is recorded by at least one camera that is in motionduring the recording of said at least one digitized image frames andwherein the step of identifying said digitized image frame furthercomprises the step of saving a location data metric corresponding to alocation of the camera when said digitized image frame was originallyrecorded.
 17. The storage media of claim 16, wherein the step of savingthe location data metric comprises saving at least an orientation of thecamera while recording, a focal length of the camera, and the locationof the camera.
 18. The storage media of claim 14, further comprising thesteps of: for each digitized image frame identified as having an objectof interest: segmenting said frame into at least one region of interest;applying at least one filter to each of said regions of interest whichdifferentiates between various types of objects of interests so as toclassify each of said regions of interest by type; and creating a recordin a database corresponding to each type of object of interest thatstores at least a portion of a bitmap corresponding to each region ofinterest in said frame of classified as containing that type of objectof interest.
 19. The storage media of claim 14, wherein each of said atleast two filters is selected from the set of the following filters; anedge filter, a color-pair filter, a color filter operating in the L*u*vcolor space, an edge filter combined with a line extender, or a colorfilter operating in the LCH color space.
 20. The storage media of claim14, further comprising the step of discarding said digitized imageframes not identified as potentially having an object of interestpresent.
 21. The storage media of claim 14, wherein the differentiablecharacteristics, edge characteristics, texture characteristics,symmetry, convexity, lack of three dimensional volume, number andorientation of side edges, characteristic corner angles, frequency, andluminescence.
 22. The storage media of claim 14, wherein said digitalimage is captured as said at least one digitized image frames in a framebuffer.
 23. The storage media of claim 14, wherein said digitized imageframes in said frame buffer are operably generated by a digital imagecapture device that is recording said digital image as an image selectedfrom the set comprising: live images, a pre-recorded set of images, aseries of still images or a digitized version of an original analogimage sequence.
 24. The storage media of claim 14, further comprisingthe steps of: for each digitized image frame identified as having anobject of interest: segmenting said frame into a plurality ofnon-overlapping image segments; identifying a segment that that exhibitsa differentiable characteristic as a search space; and expanding saidsearch space to include segments adjacent to said segment that exhibitsthe differentiable characteristics.
 25. The storage media of claim 24,wherein the step of expanding further comprises the step of: utilizingmorphology techniques to grow and erode said search space by adding orsubtracting segments adjacent said search space until either said searchspace meets or fails to meet uniform criteria for a differentiablecharacteristic.
 26. The storage media of claim 14, wherein saiddigitized image frames comprise a large number of frames of image dataand the method is used as part of a graphic-based search engine torecognize a desired single object within said large number of frames ofimage data.
 27. A computer system for rapidly identifying whether adigitized image frame may contain objects of interest: a frame bufferthat stores at least one frame of a digital image; at least two separatefilters operably connected to said frame buffer to generate a discreteoutput from each filter in response to each filter to each frame of saiddigital image in said frame buffer, wherein each of at least two of saidfilters screens for a differentiable characteristic associated with theobjects of interest that is unique to that filter; and a neural networkoperably connected to said discrete outputs of said at least twoseparate filters to identify a frame of said digital image aspotentially having an object of interest present in response to saiddiscrete outputs of said at least two separate filters.
 28. The computersystem of claim 27, further comprising: a database that stores at leasta portion of only said frames of said digital image that are identifiedby said neural network.
 29. The computer system of claim 27, furthercomprising: at least one camera that is in motion during the recordingof said at least one digitized image frames; and a database that storesat least a portion of only said frames of said digital image that areidentified by said neural network along with a location data metriccorresponding to a location of the camera when said digitized imageframe was originally recorded.
 30. The computer system of claim 29,wherein the location data metric stored in said database includes atleast an orientation of the camera while recording, a focal length ofthe camera, and the location of the camera.
 31. The computer system ofclaim 27, wherein each of said at least two filters is selected from theset of the following filters; an edge filter, a color-pair filter, acolor filter operating in the L*u*v color space, an edge filter combinedwith a line extender, or a color filter operating in the LCH colorspace.
 32. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the differentiablecharacteristics of each of said at least two filters is selected fromthe set comprising: color characteristics, edge characteristics, texturecharacteristics, symmetry, convexity, lack of three dimensional volume,number and orientation of side edges, characteristics corner angles,frequency, and luminescence.
 33. The computer system of claim 27,further comprising: a digital image capture device that records saiddigital image for storage in said frame buffer as an image selected fromthe set comprising: live images, a pre-recorded set of images, a seriesof still images or a digitized version of an original analog imagesequence.
 34. The computer system of claim 27, wherein said digitizedimage frames comprise a large number of frames of image data and saidcomputer system is used as part of a graphic-based search engine torecognize a desired single object within said large number of frames ofimage data.
 35. A computer system for rapidly identifying whether adigitized image frame may contain objects of interest: a frame bufferthat stores at least one frame of a digital image; at least two separatefilters operably connected to said frame buffer to generate a discreteoutput from each filter in response to each frame of said digital imagein said frame buffer, wherein each of at least two of said filtersscreens for a differentiable characteristic associated with the objectsof interest that is unique to that filter; and means operably connectedto said discrete outputs of said at least two separate filters foridentifying a frame of said digital image as potentially having anobject of interest present in response to said discrete outputs of saidat least two separate filters.
 36. The computer system of claim 35,further comprising: a database that stores at least a portion of onlysaid frames of said digital image that are identified by said means foridentifying.
 37. The computer system of claim 35, further comprising: atleast one camera that is in motion during the recording of said at leastone digitized image frames; and a database that stores at least aportion of only said frames of said digital image that are identified bysaid neural network along with a location data metric corresponding to alocation of the camera when said digitized image frame was originallyrecorded.
 38. The computer system of claim 37, wherein the location datametric stored in said database includes at least an orientation of thecamera while recording, a focal length of the camera, and the locationof the camera.
 39. The computer system of claim 35, wherein each of saidat least two filters is selected from the set of the following filters:an edge filter, a color-pair filter, a color filter operating in theL*u*v color space, an edge filter combined with a line extender, or acolor filter operating in the LCH color space.
 40. The computer systemof claim 35, wherein the differentiable characteristics of each of saidat least two filters is selected from the set comprising: colorcharacteristics, edge characteristics, texture characteristics,symmetry, convexity, lack of three dimensional volume, number andorientation of side edges, characteristics corner angles, frequency, andluminescence.
 41. The computer system of claim 35, further comprising: adigital image capture device that records said digital image for storagein said frame buffer as an image selected from the set comprising: liveimages, a pre-recorded set of images, a series of still images or adigitized version of an original analog image sequence.
 42. The computersystem of claim 35, wherein said digitized image frames comprise a largenumber of frames of image data and said computer system is used as partof a graphic-based search engine to recognize a desired single objectwithin said large number of frames of image data.